Carney Says More Work Needed to Verify Syria Chemical Use

Free Syrian Army members pose at their base on April 21, 2013, in Darkoush, Syria. Photographer: Esa Alexander/The Times/Gallo Images via Getty Images

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s spokesman
said “much more” work needs to be done to verify intelligence
assessments that Syria’s regime used chemical weapons against
the opposition in that country’s civil war.

The U.S. needs to investigate whether there is direct
evidence that Bashar al-Assad’s regime used the poison sarin in
its fight against rebels, White House press secretary Jay Carney
said today at a White House briefing.

Carney repeated Obama’s stance that verified use of
chemical munitions by Syrian government forces or the transfer
of those weapons to terrorist groups would cross a “red line”
triggering U.S. action.

“The president made clear this is a very serious matter,”
Carney said. Because of that, “it is essential to establish,
you know, a broader process of verification that will allow us
then to assess whether that red line has been crossed and what
the policy response will be.”

The administration disclosed on April 25 that intelligence
agencies assess with “varying degrees of confidence” that
Assad’s regime has used chemical munitions on a small scale in
two instances.

That has escalated calls from some members of Congress for
the U.S. to take further steps, such as imposing a no-fly zone
over Syria, to aid rebels battling Assad’s regime.

Action Sought

One of those urging a bigger U.S. role in Syria is Senator
John McCain, who said yesterday that the atrocities already
committed by Assad are justification enough for action.

Assad’s use of chemical weapons “should not be the
gauge,” the Arizona Republican, a member of the Armed Services
Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “Unless we
change the balance of power, there is a danger that this
stalemate could go on for months and months.”

At the Pentagon today, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said
the U.S. is continuing to assess Syria’s suspected use of
chemical weapons, while declining to discuss potential military
options.

“We should wait and get the facts” before making any
decision, Hagel said at a joint news conference with Japan’s
defense minister, Itsunori Onodera.

More than 70,000 people have died during the Syrian civil
war, according to United Nations estimates.

Obama hasn’t said what the U.S. would do if chemical
weapons use is verified.

‘Credible’ Inquiry

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today renewed his plea for
access to Syria to investigate suspected chemical weapons use,
as he prepared to meet in New York with the head of his
investigative team.

“A credible and comprehensive inquiry requires full access
to the sites where chemical weapons are alleged to have been
used,” Ban said in a statement. “I again urge the Syria
authorities to allow the investigation to proceed without delay
and without any conditions.”

The U.S. and its international partners are seeking to
determine the “chain of custody” of evidence that sarin was
used and gather physical evidence, Carney said, adding that he
couldn’t give a timetable. The U.S. wants to know “ how the
exposure occurred, under what circumstances, who specifically
was responsible,” he said.

Obama discussed his concern over Syria today in a phone
call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders
pledged to stay “in close consultation” and instructed their
deputies to continue discussions on Syria, according to a White
House statement.

Surgical Response

Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, said on
CBS’s “Face the Nation” program yesterday that the Obama
administration is working harder than Americans realize “trying
to figure out what we can do surgically without making the
problems worse.”

In the most recent violence, Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi survived a bomb explosion that killed at least six people
as his convoy traveled through Damascus, state television said.

At least 15 people were wounded in the blast in the
capital’s Mazzeh district, the television station’s website
said.